✨ Book Review ✨

Thanks to @netgalley and @orbitbooks_uk for an ARC ebook of 'The Foxglove King' by Hannah Whitten in exchange for an honest review. Here goes…

The Foxglove King is based around FMC Lore who was born with the power to channel Mortem - the essence of death. She is captured by the kingdom's high priest and is forced to work for him and his mortem channelling monks as a spy. With the help of Gabriel, a disgraced duke turned monk and the heir to the kingdom Bastian, Lore delves into the mysteries of her powers, as well as the truth of a series of deaths in the villages around the kingdom.

For those lovers of romance, there definitely is a love triangle forming in this one, although I presume the next book will have more focus on that compared to this first instalment.

The premise of this book sounded amazing to me, but unfortunately it just didn’t live up to my expectations and it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped it would be.

I have such mixed feelings writing this review! At the beginning of the story I was completely hooked, it dived straight into action making me want to read on. However, I found it very hard to stay committed to picking it up and finishing it after the first few chapters. I liked the ideas of this unique magic of death channelling and the building of the atmosphere, however, I never really felt invested in Lore as the main character.

As the novel moved on, I found that it began to drag and I felt that sometimes I just wanted each chapter to move on and get to the point. There was a lot of words and not a lot anything happening. The final third of the book picked up again and finished with a great set up to the next book in the series.

Overall, I can’t say I loved this book. I enjoyed parts of it and I properly would read the next instalment , but I won’t be rushing to preorder.

Rating: 3.75 stars / 5 stars

Thank you Little Brown Group UK and NetGalley for the e-ARC

I was really excited to read this and was not disappointed.

Whitten's writing is phenomenal which drew me immediately into this book. Her world building while it took me a while to get into it was really well done. Her description really painted an easy picture for me visualize the unique setting as well as the characters.

I fell in love her the FMC early on. I loved her personality and how she made decisions that moved the plot along.

The various dynamics between the characters and the dialogue was easy to follow along..

I will say thought the pacing was a bit slow but that's not really a bad thing.

"𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘶𝘱, 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳."
.
𝐅𝐨𝐱𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐲 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐡 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧
ARC review - spoiler free
Publishing date (7/3/2023)
4.5 stars.
So this is the first book from Hannah Whitten I've read. I haven't picked up a fantasy in quite sometimes and this was refreshing. We follow Lore who is a poisonrunner but she also a necromancer. She is doing a run for the poisonrunners and is thrown into a whirlwind and is now working for the head of the Presque Mort and the King as he believes a war is upon them. Lore job is to become close to the King's Son. But not everything is as it seemed. We discover secrets but also find out a lot of betrayals.

The world building was not as in depth compated to other fantasies I've read. And it doesn't need to. It was written with enough depth that you can picture the exact scene without much struggle. Which I appreciate.
I love the courts festivities and the events that take place. Highlighted how rich and the privilege lived compared to the poor.

In terms of the writing style. It was easy enough to follow through. Just a note it is in third person which may not be everyone's cup of tea. It took a few chapters to get into but once I was fully engrossed and the pacing was good. The story flowed quite well, however, towards the end there was an overwhelming amount of information and events that felt quite rush. There was no cliffhanger as such but I am truly intrigued of what will happen next.

Lore's personal growth is quite hard to describe. It could be described as quite slow but also highlight she has always been a pawn in a much larger game. I'm hoping we get to see her develop more in the next book. Furthermore in the book the more we get to see how Lore's power become a key player.

Now the last thing, we all want to talk about is the love triangle. Between a monk and a Prince. It's has a lot angst between the characters and the dynamics are conflicting at time. At the current moment, I don't mind the love triangle. You can start to see the development throughout the story and it is not the main focal point. I hope we see more development in the next book.

Overall a very enjoyable story that I can't wait to dive into next time. Highly recommend.

I received an arc in return for my review

I admit I was intrigued with the premise of Lore being able to bring the dead back to life. This is definitely what I got. We jump straight into to Lores world where she is spying on a rival gang and through a series of unfortunate events ends up captured by the kings guard. In this world being able to raise the dead or be a deathwitch gets you sentenced to death unless you are one of the Presque Mort. There is also another order called the Night Watch who are supposed to be overseeing the body of the dead goddess - which is where all the death magic comes from. They were disbanded when the Night priestess went mad. With this in mind Lore is expecting to die but that is not to be. Her gift for rasing the dead is the strongest they have ever seen and it is needed to find out how villages are being wiped out. The king suspects it is a rival empire and wants Lore, with the help of duke turned monk Gabriel, to spy on his own son who he belives is feeding information to the rival empire. I felt that this was a little far fetched in reasoning as just becuase he doesn’t want to be king (and this is only in the king’s opinion) doesn’t mean he would sell them out to the empire.

So as one might guess if one is going to spy on a prince and add to this a young monk we are going to have a love triangle!! I will say that the love triangle isnot my favourite trope but for me it just didn’t work. For Lore + Bastion it worked really well, there was chemistry and it felt right and shall we say intriguing. (Bastion was a fun character for me - I love hidden depths and he certainly had that) When I look at Lore and Gabriel this is where it got a little sticky. I really enjoyed Gabriel as a character - he was sincere in his beliefs, not overly arrogant and a nieve faith in the man he looked up to as a father - however this meant that there wasn’t really any chemistry between their interactions or rather it felt a little bit more like a brother/sister relationship. IT does change partway through the story but it seems rather abrupt almost like the author had forgotten that there was supposed to be some sexual attraction and decided to throw it in there. Perhaps I just missed the signs and it was supposed to be a more subtle romance between the 2 of them?

In the meantime I was very intrigued by the village part of the plot. I don’t think I worked it out till the end (I’m more of a in the moment kinda person flowing with the MC rather than trying to work it out!) and even now I am wondering where the next book is going to go! So many questions have left me wanting more.

Overall I did genuinely enjoy this books despite its flaws. Even if some of the reasoning felt a bit far fetched (there is one scene quite late in the book where I’m surprised that Lore didn’t guess what another character had done! There were lots of indicators that that was what they would do and even my first thoughts were Didn’t they just go do so and so - I’m not giving any spoilers but I think you’ll know it when you come to it!!) and the love triangle felt a bit forced.

If you love:-

love triangles

necromancy

a flawed heroine

The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten is a beautifully written tale about death and its lingering presence, corruption and dark magic. It's a romantasy lovers dream and I absolutely adored every page.

When we meet our FMC, Lore, she is deep undercover, living as a spy for underground poison smugglers. She's beautiful and manipulative, however, there's a soft side hidden deep underneath. She does what she needs to survive but she is fiercely loyal to the few who took her in as a child and moulded her into one of their own. She's an incredibly endearing and flawed character. She does what she needs to survive and it's often not pretty. I love her brutal honesty and cunning.

As a fan of Sarah J. Maas, Stephanie Garber and Holly Black, I ate this book up. It was original, seductive and morbid. The gothic world Whitten has created has endless potential and I feel slightly bereft soon after finishing this book. I need a sequel immediately. Whitten has me completely and utterly at her mercy.

Thank you so much Orbit and Netgalley for an advanced copy of The Foxglove King.

I am a massive Hannah Whitten fan so I have been eagerly anticipating her latest series. And perhaps that is why I couldn't get into this book. My expectations were too high.

This book is less high fantasy and more historical fantasy - similar to the Serpent and Dove series, which I never really gelled with. This genre isn't one I particularly love. There are too many balls to juggle. Setting up a world that is clearly based on a very specific time in history rather than that medieval fantasy world we're used to, as well as a magic system and meeting new characters.

It fell a bit flat for me. But I will be reading the next book in the series.

Thank you SO MUCH Little, Brown Book Group UK, Orbitbooks Uk and Netgalley for my e-galley! I wanted to keep my review posting as close to pub date as possible. All opinions are my own.

I have been long obsessed with Hannah Whitten's writing, and skill of crafting stories, spinning them in a dark gothic like, magical fantasy! I love her other duology and now...my entire personality revolves around The Foxglove King!

A deliciously dark, brimming gothic fantasy, perfect for fans of Belladonna and X ! It is full of with court politics, betrayal, romantic endaveours, secrets, masquerade parties, strange magic and gods, and most importantly THE BEST TRIO ever written.

we follow Lore as she enters (not willingly) to the court of the Sainted King, with a goal, to gather informations on the king's son Bastian and his supposed betrayal to the country they have a war going on. Now now, this would be easy IF Lore would have not been a powerful nightwitch (necromancer), Bastian would not have been a hidden genius not to mention his relation to the Sun god, and Gabriel the presque mort would not have been doubting everything, oh and he is the cousin of Bastian. See what I am trying to tell here? The dynamic between them is PRICELESS, the dialogues and banters are out of this world witty, sarcastic, clever and honestly elevates the story so much.

I loved reading about this kind of forbidden dark magic, trying to figure out whom is with whom in the court and see the blooming attraction between the characters. What made the story's plot interesting and unputtable is the characters. Lore is morally grey, selfish to the bone, trying to survive in a world that wants her dead. Bastian is not that dim as he appears, he is very well in charge of his plans although everyone wants him dead. Gabe's the ever truthful and he has this debate going on between what is morally acceptable, where his loyalties lay, he was almost dead once. Hilarious, isn't it? Oh they all pine after each other. We could say there isa slight love triangle in the making, but still, this is not in focus of the book!

Absolutely loved it and I cannot wait for the sequel - after THAT ending I have so many questions and just eager to jump back to this world!

Read this book if you love:
- Forbidden love (or subtle love triangle)
- Found family
- Dark magic
- Court intrigues
- Twist and turns
- Slow burn romance
- Tension
- Sarcastic, witty characters
- Unusual fairytales

My rating is 4 stars.

The Foxglove King is a great book for readers who are into gothic fantasy, found family and unpredictable twists and turns.

What I enjoyed most about this book was the character dialogue. The relationships between Lore and Bastian was the most interesting and interesting character relationship, they had a good relationship that was trusting and amusing. I did also like Gabe’s character and his moral compass between moral and immoral and how it was a driving force for the plot.

For me this book really picks up from the halfway mark which made it more appealing to read as there’s more action and a whole lot more going on as the world building takes up a lot of the first portion of the book.

I think it’ll be interesting to see how the story continues in the next book.

DNF at 30%

Brazil, I'm devastated.

After For the Wolf, and all the things I've seen about The Foxglove King on the author's social media, I was sure I was going to love it. But, unfortunately, it wasn't for me.

[Minor spoilers ahead]

The book is described as immersive, lush, but i felt the exact opposite. The world seems basic, which is surprising, given how cool the magic system is, and the narrative doesn't make me want to keep reading. The plot is fine, I guess, but there are so many convenient things and weird behavior for the sake of infodump (why would you give important private information about your institution in front of a prisoner? why would you take the person you want to spy on your son to talk in private in front of this very son? like?). The conversations don't feel organic. Characters are described as mysterious and in the very next scene are telling their life story to someone they just met. Lore, our protagonist, is "snarky", and her whole personality is based on always having a punchline. One of the love interests doesn't have any charisma, and the other... Well, i couldn't get any further to meet him properly.

The plot and ambiance feel like a 2023 take on Throne of Glass, so I think many people will enjoy it. It just wasn't for me.

It took me a little while to settle into this story - the magic system isn’t the easiest to understand at first, but that tracks with plot developments, as our main character Lore learns more about her own powers.
I’m a sucker for worldbuilding that intertwines magic and religion, and the snippets of holy text and research at the start of every chapter really helped set the scene.
Lore’s a great character, and I liked her sometimes flawed and selfish reasoning - she’s a survivor.
I found some of the plot devices and foreshadowing a little heavy handed - some of the plot twists weren’t a huge surprise - but it didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of the book.
I believe there’s at least one more book planned, and I’ll be eager to jump back into this world!

Hannah Whitten is an author of one of my favorite duologies of all time, and with this book, she proves her unique and captivating writing style once again.

“The Foxglove King” is very different to her previous work but it still has all the elements that I’m so fond of: knife-sharp tension, richly imaginative world building, strong and diverse cast of characters, a magic system that is both complex and accessible. It’s a strong start to a new trilogy and it’s clear that the author knows exactly where she want to take her story in the following books.

Forbidden romance, court intrigues, mysteries that are hinted on from the very beginning but take time to unravel, keeping it interesting. Hannah Whitten is great in writing slowburn romance and in this book, we’re introduced to a love triangle that I’m excited to read more about. Same as in the Wilderwood duology, one of the elements of the book is a controlled religion system and that’s undoubtedly one of my favorite parts of Whitten’s writing.

Moreover, the ending of this book is incredibly strong, and I’m not sure where I will find the patience to wait for the next installment.

Thank you so much to NetGallery and the author for sending me an ARC of this book. I got this title for free but all my opinions are my own and uninfluenced by that.

DNF @25%

I hate DNF’ing books, especially when they’re ARC’s, but I could not bring myself to finish this one.

Like in For the Wolf, the author is great at descriptive writing. But I think that’s the problem. There is so much descriptive writing that there’s not room for much else. I don’t care about the characters, or what happens to them, so I won’t be carrying on with this one.

What a stunning novel. If someone wrote a novel just for me, it wouldn't be a lot different.

Hannah Whitten out Sarah J Maases Sarah J Maas. The characters are similar and that did strike me as I read, but then they went further.

The protagonists are older and that is attractive. Not that I mind a novel filled with eighteen year olds, but twenty-four year olds is refreshing And they are not afraid to swear which puts this into the realm of adult fiction. But there's no sex, no nudity, fashion that is unashamedly frothy and very girly, and a lead female who is powerful but not afraid to be a rounded woman - not a sexual object, not stick thin, magic but otherwise pretty and a little ordinary.

The males are ;less nuanced but throw up surprises. They are more stereotypical of the genre, handsome chivalrous soldier-type, and devastatingly attractive, bon viveur prince who only appears to care for his own comforts. But they are capable of evolving and in directions that weren't entirely expected.

This was a long book - I dread to see it in hardback - but it took less time than expected to ready it because it was easy to read; the language was modern, the narrative was never bogged down. But in the colloquial narrative, there are gems of description, unexpectedly vivid words that lift the novel from the usual to something a little more. The details of the world Ms Whitten has built never waver and are used in a predictable style that makes them real.

Absolutely brilliant; thoroughly enjoyed it.

Lore is a drug dealer’s runner. She spends her time avoiding the law both because of her dubious occupation and affinity with the outlawed death magic. When a job goes wrong and she is captured, Lore comes to the attention of the Sainted-King’s warrior-monks, who have similar power. They offer Lore an ultimatum; Lore can spy for the Sainted-King and discover who is the traitor in his court or be burned as a witch. With no real option, Lore is thrust into a decadent court of privilege and intrigue, unsure who to trust. With her power surging and her emotions torn between a warrior-monk, Gabriel, and the Sainted-King’s son, Prince Bastian, Lore must uncover the spy before she is killed.
The Foxglove King has a unique magic system based on the story’s mythology. The whole court follows the religion of the Wounded God, who killed a goddess after she tricked him. With her body under the ground, the goddess’s death magic seeps from her body, filling the streets with Mortem. Lore is one of the few people who can sense Mortem as well as use it. The warrior-monks can also feel Mortem and use it to a degree, but they don’t have Lore’s power. The Sainted-King is the Wounded God’s representative on earth, and Bastian will succeed him.
The Sainted-King’s court is very lavish and hypocritical. For example, the drugs Lore’s gang pushed would have seen her in jail, yet the drug is freely available in the court, and the King is dosed on it every day. Lore’s magic isn’t that different from the monks’, but because she hasn’t committed her life to the service of the Wounded God, she’s a criminal.
For me, the book missed the mark. While the court and magic system were well thought out, they didn’t stand out as unique from other stories of this genre. There was nothing new, and it was the same with the Sainted-King’s court. We have experienced other decadent courts where the beauty is barely skin deep, and the ugliness has strong roots that are more vivid and stand out from the crowd. In The Foxglove King, the court felt two-dimensional.
The romantic element in any story is an important feature for me, and it must feel authentic, built on shared experiences and conversation rather than initial impressions. The love triangle felt forced. As soon as Lore meets Gabriel, she feels as if she’s met him before, and then she has the same reaction when she meets Bastion. I found myself not caring which one she would end up with, partly because I didn’t get on with Lore as a main character. I found her too glib. And this was a real letdown after being completely enraptured with the romance in Whitten’s first novel For the Wolf.
Ultimately, I felt my enjoyment of The Foxglove King was affected by how much I enjoyed her first duology Wilderwood. I loved her first books because I bought into the characters and the subversion of traditional fairy tales. The Foxglove King felt a little too stale after that. Not that this will stop me from reading Whitten’s other works. I do believe she is a talent to watch.

I seemed to struggle with this one. I didn't fall in love with the characters and wasn't pulled into the story. I'm not a big love triangle reader. I find the trope often overused in stories and didn't bond with either Gabe or Bastian's character. It took me longer to read as I didn't really enjoy it. The pacing also seems off, I was the majority of the way through the book before the major event happened. The "drug runner" element for me was unique to this book. I have never read anything like that before. Overall I think you fall in love with the characters you will love this book but unfortunately that wasn't for me.

Thank you to Little, Brown Book Group, Hannah Whitten and Netgalley for granting me an arc of The Foxglove King.

This book was great, full of mystery, a unique magic system and overall interesting plot that had me itching to read more. I honestly really liked the whole love triangle, it had me conflicted, rooting for both of the guys, as they were both so unique and clearly cared for Lore. The slow-burn romance had me dying for more and cant wait to see who she will end up with, because at this point it's not 100% set in stone it seems. I just wish Lore had a liiiiiittle bit more oomph to her pesonality - but it seems at the end of the book it started to come out more and more.
The world building fell a little flat for me, as it was difficult to really picture what sort of 'time period' it was set in or what real-life time period it was supposed to mimic (maybe it was explained and I'm just uneducated) - it became clearer as the book progressed but I wish there was more of an explanation in the beginning - it's still a bit confusing as some of the dialogue is more contemporary and a character being constantly referred to as 'Gabe' (though shortened from Gabriel) yet everyone was wearing doublets and having high tea. There was a LOT of religion involved, so if thats not your cup of tea, I would say you might struggle to like this book.
The magic system (spiritum & mortem) was complex and detailed, but still an easy concept to grasp. I'd definitely recommend if you are a fan of SJM's Throne of Glass series, as the story is pretty similar, but is different enough to hold up on its own.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

Although this book started a little slow for me this ended up being my favourite read for February.

Lore is an interesting MC with a complex background and a strange type of magic I've never encountered before. After an incident with a job gone wrong, we're introduced to Gabe a monk with the same power but a weakened version in comparison. Soon were introduced to Bastian the prince of the realm and this is where things get interesting for all three of them.

It was only after I was introduced to all three parties that I was unable to put the book down, the dynamic between them was something else and I couldn't decide who I was pulled more towards, Lore and Gabe or Lore and Bastian.

I didn't think I'd get sucked in so much on a story with a religious take on it but it was described so well that you can understand why there are difficulties and why the characters are torn between their duty and their heart.

This was well and truly worth the read and I can't wait to see what happens next.

I absolutely loved this, it well and truly got me out of my reading slump, I couldn’t put it down!

The characters were just so likeable, I constantly flipped better liking Gabe or Bastian better. The world building was great and not too info dumpy, I also really loved the atmosphere, especially within the citadel it was rich and gothic.

My favourite part was the magic system it’s really unique and completely different from anything I’ve read before. I’d highly recommend this book!

** 4.5 STARS **
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my e-ARC!
This was my favourite read of February. It is richly detailed, with well-written and well-developed characters, the beginnings of a romance subplot and compelling worldbuilding.

Lore was a great female MC - not just reduced to the Chosen One, the swooning damsel in distressed when with her male counterparts, and she knew her own mind. I liked the fact that she was selfish and openly admitted to it come the end of the book. The layers to her character - guilt, selfishness, anger, a touch of lust - all helped flesh her out. I loved her strength, but the fact that this was combined with her anger and hurt from various events made her an even stronger character. I think I would have liked some things to about her character to have been further explained, but this may come in the next installment.

Gabe and Bastian were great supporting characters - to the point where I couldn't decide which one I would rather see the romance with - and I loved seeing how their relationships with Lore grew. Bastian's attempts to flirt with Lore deserve a special mention; that man is shameless! I also liked seeing the relationship between the men develop as the book progressed, especially when they were both desperate to protect Lore.

Gabe was a spectacularly written character and I loved the way his guilt (both familial and religious) was woven into his character in a really compelling way. The relationship between Church and Crown, which was perfectly exemplified with the men, was subtly but perfectly explored and it helped guide the characters through the plot. This relationship between the two helped to elevate the worldbuilding.

Although we were dropped into Lore's world, understanding it didn't feel difficult at all. The intricacies of the Chruch were explained piece by piece as the plot moved forward. The excerpts at the start of each chapter also helped to explain the history of the religion, as well as explaining the nuance behind the belief system.

The only thing that stopped this book from being a full five stars for me was the pacing. There were lots of little plot events that happened at the beginning and middle, but the major event of the book didn't occur until I was about 70% of the way through, which is probably why I feel like some things weren't fully explained.

Overall, a great read and I can't wait to see what comes next!

4,5⭐️

This book really surprised me in the best way. It was a bit slow in the beginning, it was a lot of new stuff and it took a little bit to come in to, but when I did, it was amazing! I really liked this book, the main characters were awesome, and I just can't wait for more of this story.

This is a dark and mysterious book about a poison runner/spy, a one-eyed monk, and the sun prince. It has masquerade, tea party, sneaking out around places they maybe shouldn't be sneaking around, necromancy, plot twists and betrayal. And that ending! I still have a lot of things I need answers to, so I'm really excited for the next book. I can't wait to buy a physical copy of this book for my shelf.

For trigger warnings, see the authors website.